The Story of Sheila Riddle (Harry Potter Fanfic)

Chapter 16

Sheila continued to wring out her sopping wet robes as she entered the Great Hall of Hogwarts castle with the other first years.

She had welcomed the opportunity to return to her old school. She wanted to once again be a part of the place both she and Tom had loved so much. She wanted to know the new students, the new teachers; she wanted to relive it all.

It had been raining cats and dogs when the train had reached its stop. She had had to endure a dreadfully unpleasant tour of the Black Lake with the other first years, and she had entered the castle with enormous relief.

Now, as she glanced around the huge dining hall, a rush of memories came back to her. She remembered her sorting, how she had met Tom, and the years that had followed. She wondered if perhaps she would be sorted differently this time. Although she was much the same as she had been back then, so maybe not...

The sorting began.

A aged witch moved over to the stool where the Sorting Hat was perched and began calling out names. Sheila watched the unfamiliar students one by one fall into place among the different Houses. 

"Carmen, Leanne!"

Sheila stepped forward and took her seat on the rickety old stool. The hat was placed on her head and a long silence ensued.

"There's something very familiar about you," the hat muttered in her ear.

"I believe Slytherin is the place for me," Sheila whispered back, feeling quite calm.

There was another long silence.

Then the hat yelled, "Slytherin!"

Sheila got off the stool and joined the Slytherin table, feeling right at home. Suddenly, the sound of nearby chatter caught her attention and she turned her head toward the sound. Her eyes found a pale-looking boy sitting between two second years who looked very much clueless. As she listened in, she caught a name.

Draco.

She stared. It was impossible. No, it wasn't! It made perfect sense! Draco, her godson, Narcissa's boy was a second year at Hogwarts! 

As she thought of it, she was seized by a sudden pang of longing. She missed her friends. Being back at Hogwarts made her feel like a child again, and she was reminded of the dismal loneliness she had once suffered.

She remembered Narcissa standing before her plain as day in the sitting room of the Malfoy Manor, waiting with a hopeful expression on her face.

"Well, will you do it?" she asked, unable to disguise the excitement in her voice.

"Godmother," Sheila said, blinking slowly, "You want me to be a godmother."

"Yes, yes. Will you do it?"

"Well, yes, I suppose..."

Narcissa beamed with pleasure and flung her arms around Sheila.

"I knew you'd do it! But, come, you must see him! Lucius is sitting upstairs with him."

She took Sheila's hand and led her up the carpeted stairs of her home, down a wide hall, and into a room that had evidently been made into a nursery. Lucius was sitting next to a crib, rocking it back and forth gently.

"I take it you've accepted Narcissa's request?" Lucius asked quietly, greeting Sheila with a warm smile.

Sheila nodded stupidly and crept hesitantly over to the crib. A tiny blue-eyed baby gazed up at her, and she stared back in wonder.

"He's beautiful," she breathed, and as she said it, she felt a sudden ache, and she was reminded of her own longing for children.

But it had been denied her, along with the only love she could ever hope to have. Snape. As the years had past, she had grown in her affection for him. But aside from a few lingering attachments to her, she knew he would never love her as she wanted.